Grünenthal launches pain initiatives in Europe

Launches website for patients in Spain and grants German contract to B & F Brüggemann

Grünenthal has announced details of its pain-related comms activities in Spain and Germany.

In Spain, the company has teamed up with the Montescano Pain School to launch a website for people with neuropathic pain.

The site, www.sientodolor.es, is designed to help patients by providing case studies from other people with the condition and includes a questionnaire intended to help them better understand their pain.

The 'My Pain' questionnaire is intended to help people with neuropathic pain describe how they feel and gauge the impact of pain on their daily lives. The patient can record their symptoms on the website, then print out the information and take it to their medical appointments.

The platform is supported by the Spanish Society of Geriatrics and Gerontology (SEGG) and Pain Alliance Europe (pan-European alliance for patients with chronic pain). It is intended as a tool for both the patient and the professional, rather than as a substitute for medical advice.

The launch of the new site was inspired by the success of similar sites elsewhere in Europe. It also features descriptive information about the various types of pain: acute, chronic and neuropathic.

Neuropathic pain affects 26 million people worldwide. In Spain, a survey on primary care found that it affects 7.7 per cent of the population. A recent national study there concluded that 25.2 per cent of patients visiting primary care visits because of pain suffer from neuropathic pain.

A difficult to diagnose pain affecting the nervous structures, in approximately 60 per cent of cases, neuropathic pain is located on a specific area. This complexity of diagnosis means patients can endure pain for months and sometimes even years before getting adequate pain relief.

B & F Brüggemann wins pain contract in Germany

In other pain developments Grünenthal announced that marketing agency B & F Brüggemann has won a pitch to handle marketing efforts for its pain patch products in Germany.